Oscar® 2005 - A Critic's Picks
by Edward X. Young

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” 

The year 2004 was a tale of two Hollywoods.  For the better part of the year, the cinematic scene was depressing, although things began auspiciously with a few impressive early releases.  In Tinseltown, it seemed that the Powers that Be, fearing potential losses in revenues, suddenly lost faith in the intelligence of the movie-going public and sent word from on high for producers to stop taking risks and start playing it safe.   

Following the great technological advancements and bold experiments in style made during the early years of the 21^st century, it was shocking to see so much money, talent, and celluloid stock wasted on so many pointless and inferior remakes of classic films.  

Nevertheless, the storm clouds of mediocrity have not dimmed the dawning light of the new Golden Age of Movies.  As evinced by the wave of quality films that suddenly flooded theatres, there’s still hope for the future of The Liveliest Art.  The big movies are bigger and better than ever.  A new generation of visionary filmmakers is kindling the fires of the independent spirit in the low-budget market; and established auteurs have elected to risk their professional reputations taking chances in uncharted waters. 

Admirably, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) have done their best to recognize the worthiest efforts.  Yet it still seems astounding that the two most controversial, influential and biggest moneymaking movies of the year (THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST and FAHRENHEIT 911) were all but ignored. 

After a year dominated by biographies of incredible individuals – and one fantastic fantasy about a family of incredibles, it’s a harder job than ever for odds makers to pick the winners.  Yet this film reviewer (who is also your trusty psychic astrologer) will do his best to foresee the outcome of the Oscar contest as well as present personal critical assessments.

Once again, I submit for your approval, my Critic's Predictions for who will win and Critic's Picks for who should win the Academy Awards® on Sunday, February 27.  As usual I examine egregious omissions as well as a few outrageous inclusions that fall into the category of “What Were They Thinking?”

BEST PICTURE:

Although FINDING NEVERLAND, a delightful biography of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie, and SIDEWAYS, a quirky comedy which may stand as the most original, intelligent, and funniest “buddy movie” ever made, are both proven crowd-pleasers, they are unlikely to win the title bout. These films (albeit brilliantly crafted) are just too subtle to beat the powerhouse competition.  Although RAY, a moving, inspirational, and ruthlessly honest portrait of the American music legend, the late great Ray Charles, will take you through the entire gamut of emotions from laughter to tears to cheers – and will move your soul with the unforgettable music, it’s also unlikely to take top spot.  MILLION DOLLAR BABY and THE AVIATOR are the two heavyweight contenders, as these films have been made by two of the most powerful and respected filmmakers working today.

Directed, starring and musically scored by Clint Eastwood, MILLION DOLLAR BABY (pictured left), a brilliant character study of a female boxer and her battles inside and outside the ring, packs a powerful punch.  It’s Eastwood’s greatest work as a director, firmly defining his personal cinematic style – using the boxing ring as a metaphor for life to explore his themes of guilt, forgiveness and redemption.

Directed by Martin Scorsese, THE AVIATOR (pictured right) is a sweeping American epic of an epic American.  It’s the best and most factual biopic ever produced about the amazing Howard Hughes, the aviator, filmmaker, playboy, businessman, billionaire and recluse, who made it to the top and won it all – only to lose it all in a battle with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Scorsese has soared to new heights with his best work in years.  It’s the Critic’s Pick and the Critic’s Prediction to win the Academy Award®.

Conspicuously absent from the competition is THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (pictured left).  Directed  by Mel Gibson, it’s the most reverent movie about Jesus made since Pier Paolo Pasolini’s THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO SAINT MATTHEW (1966) –remarkably filmed in the actual languages spoken in Biblical times, Aramaic and Latin.  It was criticized for its shocking violence – because it’s the first movie ever to accurately depict the gruesome details and suffering of death by crucifixion.  It was released amid spurious accusations of anti-Semitism.  Skeptics predicted it would fail at the box office and destroy Mel Gibson’s career.  But audiences flocked to see it despite the protestors that lined up outside many theatres.  Without a doubt, this was the one of the most profitable, as well as the most controversial, original, and unforgettable movie of the year.  It’s the one that will be talked about for decades to come.  And yet THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST was not even considered for Best Picture!  What were they thinking?  It seems as if the decadent vampires that run Hollywood were hesitant to get too close to this hot property. Perhaps they were afraid they might get burned.

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BEST DIRECTOR:

Clint Eastwood (pictured right) copped the coveted (DGA) Director’s Guild Award, which gives him an odds-makers’ edge, as the DGA winner almost always wins the Oscar® – and his movie, MILLION DOLLAR BABY, is a knockout.  Nevertheless, the Critic’s Prediction and Critic’s Pick is that Martin Scorsese will win for THE AVIATOR. 

Although both movies are magnificently directed and worthy of acclaim, I believe it is Scorsese’s time.  Clint Eastwood already has his Oscars® and past DGAs.  But Martin Scorsese (pictured left) has never won – despite the fact that he has given us some of the most definitive American movies made over the past generation (including MEAN STREETS, TAXI DRIVER, RAGING BULL, GOODFELLAS) and launched the careers of performers (including Robert DeNiro, Harvey Kietel, and Jodie Foster) and spearheaded the film preservation movement begun in the early 1980s.  It’s starting to look very embarrassing for AMPAS that they’ve never honored the man, who is perhaps the single most important personality working in cinema today.

Although the other Best Director nominees Taylor Hackford (RAY) and Alexander Payne (SIDEWAYS) have done admirable jobs and are well deserving of their nominations, they’ll have to step aside for Scorsese to make his acceptance speech.

But what were they thinking when they nominated Mike Leigh (pictured right) for directing VERA DRAKE?  His film is an inferior work – a mediocre propaganda piece for abortion rights – more closely resembling an infomercial for Planned Parenthood than a feature film.  The characterizations are two-dimensional; the premise is preposterous; the story is rife with improbable and illogical plot twists – and worst of all, it’s a dreary bore!

Instead, the Academy should have given a nomination to New Jersey director Todd Solondz for his masterpiece PALINDROMES, a film which also deals with abortion, but does so with unprecedented sensitivity and open-mindedness.  Deftly maintaining an unbiased eye, Solondz sheds light on those extremist pundits on both sides of the issue and leaves the audience to make their own decisions.  PALINDROMES may be the only narrative film on the subject to fully examine the lingering guilt that haunts some women following an abortion.  Solondz (pictured left) has made his trademark exploring the volatile dynamics of modern suburban life in films such as WELCOME TO THE DOLLHOUSE (1996), HAPPINESS (1998), and STORYTELLING (2002).  Last year in Sweden, Solondz received the Stockholm International Film Festival’s first Visionary Award for his body of work.  But his personal vision seems to be a little too visionary to gain acceptance from AMPAS.

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BEST ACTOR:

As the amazing Howard Hughes, Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured right) is amazing.  He delivers the best portrait ever of the reclusive billionaire, showing how the same obsessive personality traits contributed to both the rise and fall of the innovative aviator.  DiCaprio began his career as a child actor and made an amazingly smooth transition into adult roles.  Although he could have coasted in a series of romantic leads following the success of TITANIC, he’s never taken the easy road – and has always shown a eagerness to go the extra mile.  For recognition of his brilliant performance in THE AVIATOR, as well as his body of work, Leonardo DiCaprio is the Critic’s Pick.

The Critic’s Prediction is that Jamie Foxx (pictured left) will easily win the award for his winning portrayal of Ray Charles in RAY.  His performance is so uncannily accurate that you forget that you’re watching an actor on the screen. Foxx embodies the music legend in a definitive role – and when he sings, he sounds just like Ray Charles too! Considering the fact that the late, great Ray Charles was a true American hero and a beloved personality (as opposed to the weirdo Howard Hughes) this biopic is far more likely to stir the hearts of the Academy voters.

Contenders, Don Cheadle (HOTEL RWANDA), Johnny Depp (FINDING NEVERLAND), and Clint Eastwood (MILLION DOLLAR BABY), all deliver exemplary performances, arguably the best of their careers.  But it seems sacrilegious that James Caviezel (pictured right) was not even nominated for his inspirational and unforgettable performance in THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST.  Not only has Caviezel given us the best theatrical portrayal of Jesus in the history of stage and cinema, but he deftly delivers his lines in Aramaic as if it were his native tongue. What were they thinking?

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BEST ACTRESS:

Nominee Kate Winslet (pictured left) is delightfully daggy as the willing amnesiac in the wild and wooly head trip THE ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND – and if she and her TITANIC costar Leonardo DiCaprio both win it would be vindication for all the times the Academy has overlooked both actors in equally fine performances.  It’s a vindication that Catalina Sandino Moreno was nominated for MARIA FULL OF GRACE, considering the great Columbian movie was not nominated for Best Foreign Language Film.  Annette Bening is at her comedic best as the vindictive diva in BEING JULIA. 

But there’s no contest here!

Hilary Swank (pictured right) is the Critic’s Pick and Prediction for Best Actress for MILLION DOLLAR BABY.  Swank is a knockout as Maggie Fitzgerald the hard luck waitress, who climbs out of the gutter and into the boxing ring, where her dreams are sidetracked by a sucker punch. Swank performs like a champion in a complex and demanding role that most ambitious actresses can only dream of getting. She lays the other Oscar® contenders out on the canvas at the end of the first round. 

But in the Oscar® bout for the title belt, Swank might have had to go the distance if the world’s most beautiful and talented actress had not been left off the card.  Over the past year the resplendent redhead Nicole Kidman (pictured left) has proven once again that she’s not content to rest on her laurels.  Although the auspicious Aussie still keeps the studio bosses happy starring in fluffy fare like THE STEPFORD WIVES and BEWITCHED that guarantee big box office returns, Kidman also consistently takes chances in challenging roles in independent projects.  Nicole delivers a brilliantly introspective performance in the movie, BIRTH, in which she plays a woman dismantled by the discovery that her dead husband may have been reincarnated and is now living next-door in the body of a ten-year-old boy.  In DOGVILLE, she plays a mysterious messianic figure, who wanders into a tiny Midwestern mining town to deliver judgment to the populace.  Written and directed by the provocative Danish director, Lars Von Trier, DOGVILLE so ruthlessly spoofs and skewers the sappy sentiments of playwright Thornton Wilder’s OUR TOWN that many critics called it “anti-American,” an accusation which delayed the movie’s release and limited its distribution.  Nevertheless, Nicole Kidman’s performance in DOGVILLE is the finest dramatic role of her career.  And yet she was not nominated for either film!  What were they thinking?

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Morgan Freeman (pictured right) is the Critic’s Pick and Critic’s Prediction to win for MILLION DOLLAR BABY.  More than one critic has called Freeman “the greatest actor working in movies today;” and when you see him in this film, you’ll understand why.  Freeman is both stellar and subtle as the movie’s narrator and in the role of Scrap, a former heavyweight contender, half-blinded by a cheap shot in the ring and reduced to working as a janitor in a gym.  Freeman is a perfect ensemble player, who always shines without ever stealing a scene away from a costar. Even when he plays the lowest of characters, his presence in any film elevates that picture to prestigious heights.

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BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Natalie Portman (pictured left) is the Critic’s Pick and Prediction to win for her role in CLOSER.  Although she made a name for herself in the STAR WARS series and other silly adolescent fare, the young star has worked hard to escape genre typecasting and transform herself into a “real” actress.  In CLOSER, a searing exploration of modern sexual mores, Portman plays Alice, an expatriate American living in London, working as a stripper, and hiding a personal secret that impedes her ability to get closer to the men with whom she becomes intimately involved.  It’s a deeply complex, frankly carnal, and emotionally challenging role that would surely have scared away any young actress who was not only very talented, but also very confident in her own ability.  As Alice, Portman proves that she’s much more than “Queen Amidala.”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:

THE INCREDIBLES is incredible!  This family of all-American superheroes is faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive -- and they take computer-generated imagery (CGI) to new heights that soar beyond your wildest imagination.  For pure fun and entertainment, this Disney/Pixar extravaganza written and directed by the brilliant Brad Bird beats them all. It’s the perfect family film – a true movie for all ages.  And you don’t have to bring a kid with you to enjoy it!  It’s got a whole bunch of incredible characters – including the sexiest animated mama (Mrs. Incredible/Elastigirl) ever conceived on an artist’s drawing board.  The talented cast of voiceover artists (including Craig T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, and Samuel L. Jackson) boasts incredible comic timing.  The legendary director Howard Hawks once said, “A good movie is three good scenes and no bad ones.”  But what would he say about THE INCREDIBLES?  Not only is every scene great – but also every single frame is a visually stunning work of art. With more excitement than Disneyland’s wildest roller coaster ride and more adventure than the past ten James Bond movies combined, this is the “must see” movie of the year.  It must be seen on the big screen to truly be appreciated.  This year, if you’re going to go to see only one movie in a theatre this is it!  THE INCREDIBLES is the Critic’s Pick and Prediction for the Oscar® for Best Animated Feature – but it’s much, much more!  It is truly the Best Picture of the Year!

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BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:

The Critic’s Pick is Brad Bird (pictured left) for THE INCREDIBLES, because special effects alone do not make for an animated masterpiece.  You’ve got to have a great story.  And Bird’s brilliant screenplay is just as incredible on the printed page.  But it would be unprecedented for an animated feature to claim this award.  Therefore, the Critic’s Prediction is that screenwriter John Logan will fly away with the Oscar® for THE AVIATOR.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:

It’s a unanimous decision!  The Critic's Pick and the Critic's Prediction is Paul Haggis (pictured left) for MILLION DOLLAR BABY.  Much more than a story about boxers, Haggis’ tale takes you outside of the ring and into the hearts and minds of the athletes who choose to participate in this dangerous blood sport that the film’s narrator calls “an unnatural act.”  Drawing on a collection of F.X. Toole’s gritty short stories of life in the ring, Haggis has delivered the most introspective screenplay about boxing since Paul Schrader penned RAGING BULL. 

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BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE:

Everyone was perplexed when the so-called “documentary” FAHRENHEIT 911 failed to garner a nomination in this category.  Directed by Michael Moore, the conspicuously timed pre-election assault on President George W. Bush won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, the People's Choice Award, opened Number 1 at the box office and grossed $220.7 million worldwide – raking in more than three  times the take of the second most profitable documentary of all time, Moore’s Oscar®-winning BOWLING FOR COLUMBINE.  Conspiracy theorists speculated that the re-election of the President knocked the popular propaganda piece out of the running.  But the rumors are untrue!  FAHRENHEIT 911 earned Moore a DGA nomination for Best Documentary Director, an honor that virtually guaranteed him another Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature.  But Michael Moore (pictured right) couldn’t keep his ego or his appetite in check.  After all the accolades, Moore’s head swelled to a diameter bigger than his bloated waistline.  Informing the Academy that he would refuse a nomination for Best Documentary, Moore proclaimed he would accept nothing less than a Best Picture nomination for FAHRENHEIT 911 and a Best Director nomination for himself.  Unsatisfied with the bird in his hand, the portly propagandist ended up with nothing. 

The Critic’s Prediction is that TUPAC: RESURRECTION will cop the gold.  This critic would have thought the Academy wasn’t cool enough to consider this dynamic documentary of the late, great gangsta rapper, Tupac Shakur (pictured left).  But the nomination alone proves there are still hipsters in Hollywood.

However, the Hollywood squares were not hip enough to acknowledge END OF THE CENTURY.  Focusing on the legendary punk rock band, The Ramones (pictured right), this rock ‘n roll documentary chronicles the history of the scene following its evolution from underground music in New York City’s Lower East Side in the early 1970s to its world-wide impact today.  Jam-packed with recent and archival footage of The Ramones (Tommy, Marky, Ritchie, and CJ – as well as the late great Joey, Johnny and Dee Dee) END OF THE CENTURY also is also loaded with interviews and performance clips of punk rock legends including Johnny Thunders and Walter Lure (pictured left), Jerry Nolan, Debbie Harry, Glen Matlock, Legs McNeil, Iggy Pop, Joe Strummer, Rob Zombie, Captain Sensible, Danny Fields, and Andy Warhol – and the seminal bands, including The Ramones, The New York Dolls, and The Stooges.  Directed by Jim Fields and Michael Gramaglia, it’s the long-awaited and definitive statement on rock ‘n roll’s least understood and most influential movement.  Although it isn’t even nominated, END OF THE CENTURY is my personal Critic’s Pick for the year's Best Documentary Feature!

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BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:

The Critic’s Pick and Prediction is that the Oscar® will go to THE SEA INSIDE (pictured right).  Directed by Alejandro Amenabar (who also directed Nicole Kidman in THE OTHERS in 2001), this spectacular Spanish bipoic is based on the true story of Ramon Sampedro, a ship mechanic, who is paralyzed in a diving accident and fights for his right to die for the next 30 years.  The actor Javier Bardem went to great lengths as a method actor to tackle the challenging role.  As well as already winning many international awards, THE SEA INSIDE has also churned up a storm of controversy for championing Sampedro’s struggle to die with dignity.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS:

The Critic’s Prediction is that SPIDER-MAN 2 will win for state-of the-art CGI effects that made Stan Lee’s superhero come so unbelievably believably alive, made super villain Doc Octopus the most formidable nemesis of the year, and made the movie the biggest hit of the summer.

But what were they thinking when they failed to nominate THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST (pictured right) for startling special effects that so perfectly cinematically realized Jesus’ sufferings?  Perhaps the Academy voters overlooked the outstanding achievements of Special Effects Coordinator, Daniel Acon (pictured left) and his team of talented associates because they completely missed the work?  The technological wizard Acon makes the horrors of the flogging and crucifixion of Jesus look so real that you’ll have to hide your eyes.  Although it’s not nominated, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST is the Critic’s Pick for this award.

The Critic’s Pick and Prediction is that THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST will win the Oscars® for all three categories in which it was nominated, BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY, BEST MAKEUP and BEST ORIGINAL MUSIC (SCORE), because it would be blasphemous for AMPAS to totally ignore this magnificent cinematic achievement.  The costume epic TROY merits recognition for BEST COSTUME DESIGN.  The Oscars® for BEST FILM EDITING and BEST ART DIRECTION belong to THE AVIATOR.  The Oscars® for BEST SOUND EDITING and BEST SOUND MIXING should go to THE INCREDIBLES.  Because it sheds so much needed light on a medical condition that is so misunderstood, AUTISM IS A WORLD deserves to win the Oscar® for BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT.  The Oscar® for BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM belongs to GOPHER BROKE.  The Academy Award® for BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM should go to LITTLE TERRORIST.  Because it got so much radio play and was such a hit single, “Accidentally In Love” by The Counting Crows from SHREK 2 is the Critic’s Prediction for BEST SONG.  But I can’t believe the Academy failed to nominate the song “Old Habits Die Hard” written and performed by Rolling Stone Mick Jagger (pictured right) for the movie ALFIE.  What were they thinking?

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